Red Wings-Blues wrap-up: inability to execute dooms Wings

The Red Wings registered 42 shots on St. Louis Blues goaltender Ty Conklin, fired another 43 pucks wide of the net or into Blues players, hit two goalposts, had 11:01 of power play time, and played about 58 minutes of supremely solid hockey, but the Wings played like a team that had to change out of its home jerseys after the pre-game warm-up (which the Blues blamed on the Red Wings) for the first 1:58 of the game, and that was all the St. Louis Blues needed to score a single goal on Jimmy Howard and prevail over the Wings by a 1-0 tally.

Sure, Conklin played very, very well in his return to Joe Louis Arena, but, in a game where the Wings did everything well, they continue to struggle to put the puck in the back of the net, and that inability to execute, especially on the power play, is the reason why the Red Wings are out of a playoff spot.

Put simply, Don Vanmassenhoven's decision to declare "intent to blow" on a Brian Rafalski would-be goal included, the Wings can say all they want about trying hard enough, getting enough scoring chances, running into hot goaltenders, etc. etc., but the Wings aren't playing up to their almost-impossibly high standards because results are what matter in Detroit, and the Wings aren't earning positive results.

The Blues were delighted to steal a win from the Wings, and none more so than Conklin, as he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford:

December 10, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "It's a little motivation against your old team," Conklin said. "Most
importantly, get two points that we really need. We're not in a
position where we can (throw) away any points. Every game is a big
game. Certainly after the game on Monday, we wanted to come out with a
solid effort."

The game Monday was a 4-0 loss to Colorado at Scottrade Center,
where the Blues dropped to 4-9-2 this season. They are 8-2-3 on the
road after Wednesday's win, which lifted them to 3-0-1 against Detroit
this season.

"The bottom line is we won the game," Blues forward Keith Tkachuk said.
"Exceptional goaltending tonight. We found a way to win, and that's the
most important thing. We definitely got to fix this home thing, no question about it. It's
just a matter of being mentally stronger and playing harder. I'm not
saying tonight was our best game, but the bottom line in this league,
it's all about results."

That's right. The Blues earned a positive result, and that's what counts.

As Rutherford took note of the Wings' home woes, Blues coach Andy Murray duly noted that the Wings may have registered oodles of shots, but they did very little to make Conklin's life difficult in terms of retrieving pucks for seconary scoring opportunities, or, as Fox Sports Detroit's Mickey Redmond noted, the kind of lateral puck movements that force goaltenders to open up:

As the Wings dropped to 1-5-1 in their last seven home games, they have scored just seven goals in those games.

"This is a team (Detroit) that takes a lot of shots from the outside,
so the shot (tally) got away from us a bit," Blues coach Andy Murray
said. "But for the greater part, we were in pretty position around the
net, and when we needed Ty Conklin to be good, he was good tonight."

The Blues quite happily killed their 22nd through 27th straight road power plays against, and they illustrated the Wings' other problem in terms of attempting to execute plays--other than Tomas Holmstrom, no Red Wings player can find a way to screen the opposing team's goaltender:

"As always, it's the goaltending that starts it," center Jay McClement
said. "On the five on three, (Conklin) felt like he could see (the
puck). They're going to get shots on a five on three. If we can't block
them, at least let him see them."

Said Conklin: "The shots were a little higher than we wanted to give
up, but I'm seeing the puck. The traffic is getting taken care of, and
we're getting in lanes, so the shots aren't exactly where they want to
put them. That makes my job easier and that makes the shot (tally) not
what you'd think."

As the Detroit News's Chris McCosky noted, the Wings' penalty-killing unit has improved dramatically as well, but, between the "intent to blow" call, losing Dan Cleary to a separated shoulder, and Ty Conklin getting away with a high stick on Brad May due to the "follow-throughs on shots don't count as high sticks" rule, the Wings earned no luck but bad luck:

December 10, Detroit News: The Wings killed off four penalties, three in the second period (the
third penalty bled over to the third period by 20 seconds). They
haven't given up a power-play goal in seven games, 21 straight kills.

Brad May was cut across the face by goalie Ty Conklin 's stick in the second period as he cleared the puck. May didn't return until the third period.

The Windsor Star's Dave Waddell relates the game's narrative...

December 10, Windsor Star: Forty five seconds into the game, Henrik Zetterberg had a glittering
chance at the edge of Ty Conklin's crease, but somehow his former
teammate kept it out. A minute later, the Blues converted on one of their four shots. After
Brad Winchester knocked Nick Lidstrom over with cross check while he
was trying to dispossess Andy McDonald behind the net, the the Blues
centre took advantage of the sudden free space to centre the puck to
Carlo Colaiacovo. The Blues' defenceman made a quick diagonal pass that
Boyes one-timed home.

The Wings were consistently around Conklin
the rest of the period, but failed to convert on two power plays in
outshooting the Blues 13-4.

After being a near spectator for a period, Howard got plenty busy early in the second. The Wings took a pair of penalties and the Blues shelled Howard with nine shots without a respone from Detroit.

At the end of the second infraction to Todd Bertuzzi, Zetterberg found the big winger breaking from the penalty box. Bertuzzi
went to the backhand on his deke, but Conklin got a paid on it. Brian
Rafalski poked the puck in, but referee Dan VanMassenhoven ruled the
disc was smothered and negated the tally. It's the fourth time the Wings have had a goal disallowed since Nov. 18 (11 games).

However,
the officials handed the Wings a great opportunity to equalize three
minutes later when David Backes and Darryl Sydor were sent off a minute
apart. Detroit again buzzed the zone, but they closest they came to scoring was Lidstrom's wicked blast off the post. It was the Blues' 24th consecutive successful penalty kill on the road.

The
Blues could've given Conklin a little breathing room to work with late
in the period, but Boyes was robbed by a sprawling save by Howard and
they also failed to convert on a late penalty to Lidstrom.

The Wings again badly outshot St. Louis in the final period (15-5), but their finishing remained atrocious. When
they weren't firing wide, Lidstrom hit another post and Detroit blew
another two power plays to finish zero-for-six with the extra skater.

And the Associated Press's Larry Lage captured comments which have become all too familiar from Wings coach Mike Babcock:

December 9, DetroitRedWings.com: Jimmy Howard gave up a goal on the second shot he faced 1:56 into the game and finished with 25 saves, getting the start ahead of slumping Chris Osgood.

"He made some big saves to give our guys an opportunity to come back
and did a great job of holding down the fort," said Babcock, who added
that Howard would probably play Friday at home against Anaheim.

The Red Wings, who have won just three of nine, were shut out for the third time in five home games. The two-time defending Western Conference champions are struggling to
score goals without some key players they lost in free agency - such as
Marian Hossa - and with others out because of injuries.

Three of nine games ain't gonna cut it in the wins department.

"I think we're going to get better when we get guys back," captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "But right now, we have to get some wins with the players we have, and we're confident we can get it done. I don't think we're getting nervous, but we see the standings every day."

Conklin expects Detroit to be in its usual position by April.

"In my opinion, they're going to make the playoffs," Conklin said. "I
know they're not in now, but they'll be in at the end of the season."

The banged-up Red Wings might've taken another hit late in the game, losing forward Dan Cleary with an upper body injury. They're already without a handful of players due to injury, including forwards Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jason Williams and defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

Babcock stated the obvious about the injury-depleted Wings, as the Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod noted:

December 10, Macomb Daily: "We've played a number of games like this this year," said Detroit
coach Mike Babcock. "It's obvious we're not blessed with a whole lot of
natural scorers. You have to keep plugging away."

Among the
similarities of late has been that the Red Wings outshoot their
opponents. Last night's shots on goal favored Detroit, 42-26. Only once
in their past seven home games have the Red Wings been outshot.

"We just are having a hard time scoring," said Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg.

Another
similarity of late has been Detroit's ability to find the post if not
the back of the net. Captain Nicklas Lidstrom clanged two shots off the
post, Wednesday … the first with 6:25 left in the second period and the
other with 15:12 left in the game.

"I think we're doing a lot of
good things," said Lidstrom. "I think we can create more traffic in
front (of the net) and create more goals."

A third similarity has been apparent Detroit goals being waved off. Last
night, it looked like the Red Wings had tied the score halfway through
the second period. Todd Bertuzzi came out of the penalty box and was
sent on a breakaway. Bertuzzi's deke was stopped by St. Louis goalie Ty
Conklin, who shot out his right pad to make the save. Detroit
defenseman Brian Rafalski, however, followed and immediately poked the
puck into the goal. The referee, however, ruled the play dead, that
Conklin had frozen the puck.

"We had lots of opportunity to score," said Babcock. "We didn't shoot it in the net. Nick had two posts."

Lidstrom insisted that he's going to be fine, as MLive.com's own Ansar Khan noted:

December 10, MLive.com: Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, on his team’s lack of
offense: “It seems like the goalies we’re facing have been the first
star or one of their best players. Sometimes you’re pressing a little
too much. When the puck’s going in for you, you’re more relaxed, just
doing your thing. When the puck’s not going in you’re forcing it
sometimes too much.’’

See: the entire team...

Cue the irony alert, per the Detroit Free Press's Helene St. James:

December 10, Detroit Free Press: It's the third time in five home games the Wings have been shut out,
and the sixth time they've reached at least 40 shots and not won.

"I thought we had some humdingers," Mike Babcock said. "I thought Conks made some great saves."

Brian
Rafalski appeared to score midway through the second period when he
poked Todd Bertuzzi's shot under Conklin's pads, but officials ruled
the play had been called dead.

"I
was just finishing a play," Rafalski said. "There was no whistle. I'm
pretty sure he meant to blow the whistle before, but, at the same time,
I think I knocked it in before he blew it."

Times two, per St. James:

December 10, Detroit Free Press: Henrik Zetterberg: "We hit some posts and had some chances on the power play, but we have to score some goals. Somehow we make the other goalie good, and we can't really get our chances in the net."

Exactly. The Red Wings have made some very decent goaltenders look like world-beaters by not getting the scoring job done.

Zetterberg
on Rafalski's called-off goal: "The puck obviously went in before the
whistle was blown. Somehow we ended up on the wrong side again." ...

Mike Babcock, on Jimmy Howard, who made 25 saves. "I thought Howie did a real good job.

"I
thought he was mentally strong and was big for us and made some key
saves to allow our guys an opportunity to come back in the game. He did a great job to hold the fort."

Yeah, but...

The Wings killed four penalties to improve to 19-for-19 on the penalty kill the past six games. ...The Wings went 0-for-6 on their own power plays, and are 3-for-29 with the man advantage the past nine games.

Babcock's commentary, as noted by the Detroit News's Chris McCosky, is becoming grating, fast, at least from this biased fan's perspective:

December 10, Detroit News: "We've played a number of games like this," said coach Mike Babcock,
after the St. Louis Blues skated out of Joe Louis Arena with a 1-0
victory Wednesday. "We've been a team that works hard and we compete,
but it's very obvious we don't have a lot of natural goal scorers and
we tighten up around the net a little bit."

The Wings fired 42
shots on their former teammate Conklin, who is now the fourth backup
goalie to beat the Wings this season -- and he's beaten them twice. There
was only one shot that did beat him, it came in the second period off a
poke by Brian Rafalski. The goal was disallowed because referee Don
VanMassenhoven ruled the play was dead, though he hadn't yet blown the
whistle.

"It was clearly in before he blew the whistle, but in
his mind the play was dead," Rafalski said. "What are you going to do?
His mind was made up. I wasn't going to waste my time arguing. It
wasn't a reviewable infraction."

The Wings are now 1-5-1 in the last seven home games, mustering a whopping three goals in the six non-wins.

"We just have to bear down and find a way to put it in the back of the net," Rafalski said.

...

"We had so many opportunities," Babcock said. "Give Conklin credit. He
really battled. He did that a lot for us last year, 25 times to be
exact. But the bottom line is, we have to shoot it in the net."

Quoth Babcock to MLive.com's own Ansar Khan:

December 10, MLive.com: “We’ve played
a number of games like this this year,’’ Red Wings coach Mike Babcock
said. “Our team works pretty hard, we’re pretty competitive. It’s very
obvious we’re not blessed with a whole bunch of natural scorers and
maybe we tighten up a little around the net. Just got to keep working hard. It’ll turn your way. I don’t think you want to hang your head about it.’’...This white-washing wasn’t from a
lack of opportunities. Babcock said his team had some “hum-dingers,’’
but Conklin did not yield many rebounds. He also got some breaks, as
Nicklas Lidstrom twice rattled shots off the goal post.

“The few rebounds he (allowed), they were there instead of us,’’ Henrik Zetterberg said.Said Babcock: “(Conklin) battled hard, he battled hard for us last year, too, and won some big games for us.’’

Howard has given the Wings no-frills but superb performances of late...

“I
thought Howie did a good job,’’ Babcock said. “When the other guy’s
getting shelled at the start and you’re hanging in there and you’re not
getting as much rubber and suddenly you’re getting under the gun … he
was mentally strong and was big for us and made some key saves to allow
our guys an opportunity to come back in the game.’’

And, oh yeah, by the way, the Blues "got away with one" on their only goal:

Boyes
scored by blasting in a one-timer on a pass from Carlo Colaiacovo. The
Red Wings lost the puck behind their net after Lidstrom was knocked to
the ice.

“I got kind of pushed down and I didn’t recover in front of
the net,’’ Lidstrom said. “We had a lot of players in front of the net,
but we didn’t pick up the players at the side of the net.’’

In the "good stats" department, Henrik Zetterberg led the team with 7 shots, but both Cleary and Lidstrom had 4 apiece, and only Brett Lebda, Brad May, and Kris Draper didn't register a shot; Jonathan Ericsson has steadied himself of late, and registered 6 hits, though he gave the puck away twice; Datsyuk led the team with 4 giveaways, but he took the puck away from Blues players 3 times, too; Zetterberg also registered 3 takeaways and 2 giveaways; Stuart and May registered 2 hits apiece; in terms of blocked shots, Brad Stuart led the way by a substantial margin, blocking 5; and, in addition to Lidstrom's 4 shots, he had 2 blocked and missed the net 6 times, and Datsyuk had 2 shots, ahd 6 blocked, and missed the net twice, so both goal-starved players are earning opportunities to score.